Conditions Faced by Migrant Farm Workers and Others Working in the Sector in Southwestern OntarioEssex County in Southwestern Ontario, with the largest concentration of greenhouses in Canada, is a large fruit and especially vegetable growing and distribution centre. Over 8,000 temporary and seasonal agricultural workers work in greenhouses, fields, orchards and packing facilities every year. Domestic workers also work in the sector, as do some international students. Several thousand international students, mainly from India and China, attend St. Clair College and the University of Windsor on study permits. In April the federal government announced that during the pandemic, these students whose visas restrict them to working a maximum of 20 hours a week would have this condition lifted until August 31 if they worked in "essential industries" such as food services, health care, infrastructure, or the supply of any other critical goods. These students can therefore be found working alongside other temporary and local workers in the agri-food industry in Essex County. There are reports of some of them moving from Windsor into crowded, overpriced units such as basement suites in places like Leamington in order to be close to their workplaces.
The person said to be in charge of "the facilitation of temporary foreign workers to Woodside Greenhouses," the pepper farm in Kingsville where Bonifacio Eugenio Romero, the young Mexican migrant worker who died of COVID-19, worked, was quoted in a news report on the worker's tragic death saying that workers are often reluctant to report symptoms for fear of losing pay if they are required to go into quarantine. What is this if not an indictment of an abusive practice that these workers who are touted as essential for Canada's food supply are not all guaranteed that if they are sick, possibly with COVID-19, and have to take time off work for everyone's good, they will still be paid? While some employers may be covering workers' wages while they self-isolate, there is no requirement in Ontario for employers to provide any paid sick days for workers. One of the first things Premier Doug Ford did when his party came to power was repeal legislation introduced by the previous Liberal government that called for employers to provide a meagre two paid sick days a year to workers. It is all the more egregious that these workers who are housed together in close quarters, putting them at high risk of getting infected, should also feel pressured to keep on working even if they have symptoms, so as not to lose any pay.
The issue of migrant workers being forced to live in unregulated, substandard, cramped quarters is not something new. Workers and their advocates have complained about it for years, with no action being taken at the government level. For Ford to say there is not enough time to fix the problem now, when the added risks were known as soon as it became apparent a pandemic was on its way and had to be prepared for, is disingenuous. Clearly, to him and his government the lives and safety of these "essential" workers are not essential. These farms produce for export. It is just the industry and the profits of the owners of the farms and greenhouses that are essential. The time is now to demand that all these workers who play an essential role in providing Canadians and others with safe and healthy fresh food be without exception guaranteed dignified working and living conditions and health care at a Canadian standard. Anything less is unacceptable. (With files from CBC, CTV, Windsor Star, iHeart Radio/am800, The Varsity, CICNews. Photos: Migrant Workers Alliance for Change, Migrant Rights. )
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Almost 8,000
international students were enrolled at the
University of Windsor and St. Clair College for
the 2019-20 academic year. A minority of the St.
Clair College students, many of whom are from
India, are enrolled in programs at the
Chatham-Kent campus. These students are a cohort
of the 640,000 international students who came
to study in Canada during 2019, and who are
estimated to contribute around $33 billion
annually to Canada's economy. They pay high
tuition fees and must cover their living
expenses in cities where rental costs have shot
up dramatically the last few years, even in
traditionally low cost areas like Windsor-Essex.
The students may also be indebted to parasitic
"immigration consultants" and recruiters who
they paid to handle their visa applications with
the lure of a two-year Canadian college
certificate being a ticket to permanent
residency, despite there being no assurance of
any such thing. Like migrant workers whose
ability to remain in or return to Canada for the
next growing season depends on them not falling
out of favour with the employers to whom they
are tied, international students also are
subject to economic pressures that keep them
from reporting unsafe and exploitative working
conditions at the best of times, let alone
during a pandemic when the risks are much
higher.
Ford appeared
"dismayed" at his press briefing on June 1 when
the topic of migrant workers' living
arrangements was raised. His first response was
to say all these workers need to be tested. When
pressed about how he was going to address the
problem of the bunkhouses that serve as their
living quarters, Ford said that it was something
that "can be put on the table," He further said,
"I've been there and seen the congregate living
on these farms. Can we do it a month or so? I
just don't think that's a reality."